Forced Marriage: Nia's Story
by Invisible Flying Monkey Ninjas
Summary: Nia Aden is being forced to marry a man she doesn't love. Or know for that matter. Raimundo cares too much for her too let that happen. Will Nia relize her true feelings for Rai, or will she live the rest of her life in misery? Read and Reveiw!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

** Nia's POV**

It was a normal day at the Xiaolin temple. The other warriors and I were training, using our Wudi wepons. We decided to fight in groups, Clay against Omi and Kimiko, and me against Raimundo.

"Blade of the Nebula!" Raimundo shouted, his wepon created a tornado of wind coming towards me. I quickly jumped out the way and used my Wudi wepon.

"Fans of Arc!" I opened the fans and spun around, bolts of lightning sprang out from them. Raimundo twirled the blade to shieled him from the lightning. Once the lighing had succeded, I closed the fans and threw them at him. They caught onto his robes and pinned him to a wall.

"Hey, no fair!" Raimundo said, struggling againgst the fans. I walked over to him, I stood in front of him, my face inches from his, and I plucked the fans out of his robes and let him fall to the ground.

"Game, set, match. I win again." I said, helping him up. Rai dusted himself off and bowed to me.

"Your skills are getting better. You even beat me, and I'm the Shoku Warrior!" Raimundo said impressed. I bowed to him and blushed. We walked over to the fountain and sat down to take a break and watch the others spar each other. After about half an hour, Master Fung called for us to the temple.

"Young monks," he started, "you are needed in the Temple at once."

When we entered the Temple, we saw a man and a women. The woman was wearing a green hijab. Her hair reddish-brown hair, the same color as mine, was hiddedn execpt for a small strand of hair over her striking grey eyes. The man, wearing a red turban looked over at me. I saw joy in his eyes, almost in tears like the woman.

"Oh my Induku," said the woman, "she has indeed grown into a beutiful young woman." They were talking about me.

"Yes, Imani, I have never seen a more beutiful girl in my whole life." Said Induku. He had a look of great pride on his face. I started getting nervous, you would too if two people you didn't know started talking about how pretty you are.

"Um, thank you. May I asked who you two are?" I asked.

Induku stepped forward. "I am Induku Aden, and this is my wife, Imani. We are from Mogadishu, Somalia." He said.

"That's weird, I was born there, and my last name is Aden. Hey maybe we're related!" I said exited. The only relitives I had were my aunty and uncle in Manhattan. I didn't know who my parents were, they gave me up when I was a baby. Imani had a smile on her face the size of one of Clay's hoggies, and that's pretty big.

"We are Nia." Said Induku.

Okay, now this is just plain weird. "How do you know my name?" I asked. Imani and Induku looked at each other, and then back at me. Imani stepped forward. I noticed that not only was she creeping me out by now, but she looked kind of like...me.

" We know your name because we are your mother and father, and we finally have found you!" She said with joy. Tears welled up in her eyes. I was shocked, confused and bewildered.

"You...you two are my...parents? B-But how can that be?"I asked. This was so much to take in, I haven't talked to my parents in the last, 14 years or so. I looked around to see my friends just as confused as me. I opened my mouth to say something, but I was cut off by Master Fung.

"Perhaps we should disscus this over tea." He suggested. He led us all to the dining room.

"You were such a beutiful baby when you were born," Imani started, "your beutiful brown skin, long, soft reddish-brown hair, and stunning grey eyes are just the half of it. You have a smile that light up the room, and a personality that is fit for a princess. We were so heart broken when we had to give you up." Imani said touching my hair.

"I don't understand, why did you have to give me up?" I asked. I looked up at Raimundo who was sitting across from me. He could sense that I was nervous and scared, he gave me a reasuring smile.

Induku took a sip of his tea. "Around the time you were a year old, war broke out in Somalia. During an invasion, we managed to escape Mogadishu so we could flee the country."

"We stayed with some friends of ours in Kenya, but then war broke out there too. So we finally decided to leave Africa and go live in New York with distant cousins. We tried to buy tickets for all of us, but we only had enough money for one ticket."

"Induku and I made the hardest decision of our lives: we decided that you would go one the plane with one of our friends who was leaving too, and go to Manhattan to live with my cousins until we could flee the county ourselves." Said Imani.

"But we never could leave, we had to struggle with money, and the war kept going. We were forced to stay in Somalia. So we could never see you. But now, we are reunited, and thats all that matters.

Their story really touched me. They didn't give me up because they didn't want me, they gave me up because they wanted to protect me. "You guys really are my Mama and Baba.I can't belive you went through all that trouble to save me." I said. Tears of joy welled in my eyes. I got up from my seat and hugged my parents, and they hugged me back. I finally had a family again.

But all of that was about to change.

Mama, was crying, not tears of joy, but tears of sarrow. "Mama, whats wrong?" I asked.

"There is a reason why we came here." She said. I looked to my Baba, he held his head in despare and shame.

"What's going on?" I asked. There was silence, only broken by my Mama's sobbing. Baba liffted his head, and reached for my small hand. He looked into my grey eyes.

"The other reason why we came here is because a weathly family from another villiage in Somalia came into our home one day. Their son, Taban, wanted a wife that was of 14 years of age. They knew that we had a daughter, and that she was a Xiaolin monk, training to be the Dragon of Lightning. Taban ordered us to show him a picture of you." Baba said, pulling out a picture of me with my long auburn hair past my waist. I was wearing my favoirte outfit: an off shoulder yellow shirt with purple straps, blue jean shorts, red convers high tops, and purple strip socks.

"He said that you were georgeous, and wanted to meet you right away. But we told him that we could not bring you to Somalia. Taban grew angrier, he said that if we did not bring you to Somalia, he would come here and kidnapp you, bring you to Somalia, and froce you to marry him." Mama said with a sob.

I looked down, I knew what this meant. "So in other words..."

"Yes Nia," said my Baba, "I am adraid that you have been forced into marriage." Raimundo jumped from his seat, "That's crazy!", he shouted, "You can't just force someone to marry you...can you?"

"It is a tradition Raimundo", said Mama, "We would stop this if we could, but, they threatened to kill us if Nia didn't agree to marry Taban." By this time Mama broke down crying in my Baba's arms.

I turned around and looked at my friends. Raimundo stepped forward. "You don't have to do this Nia." Raimundo said. What did he think i was gonna do? Abanndon my parents when they needed me?

"I have to do it Rai, they need me." I said in sarrow. I looked to my parents. "I'll do it. I'll marry Taban."

"We are so sorry baby, we tried everything we could to stop this." My Baba said, hugging me. I held back my tears, I couldn't let them see me cry. It would only make things worse for them.

"You can't do this Nia, you can't just bail out on us!" Raimundo shouted.

"Raimundo, it is the honorable thing to do." Omi said.

"Yeah Rai, besides we'll visit her, and she'll visit us.." Kimiko said, but was cut off by Raimundo.

"You know what, forget it! Leave, I don't care!" And he stormed off. I called after him but he ignored me. I felt my heart drop. Why was he taking this so hard? I'm the one getting married by force here! But this was only the begining of something worse.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Raimundo's POV**

It was the last night that Nia would stay here. Tomarrow night she would sleep in Somalia, and the night after that she would sleep in a bed with her new husband. That last thought was what made everything worse. How could she just agree to marry someone who threatened to kill her parents if she didn't? It just doesn't make any sense.

I walked over too Nia's room, she was packing up her stuff. I walked in and I guess I must have been pretty quiet cause she jumped when she saw me.

"Raimundo! Hi, I,uh, didn't see you there." She stuttered. She put down what she was doing and walked towards me. "Hey, about earlier, I wanted to talk to you about it."

"Whatever." I said. I wasn't in the mood to talk about it.

"Exscuse me?" Nia asked. I could hear the offense in her voice.

"There's nothing to talk about. If you're willing to bail out on us for this, then good ridince." I retorted.

"I'm not doing this on purpouse. My parents need me to help them. Besides, he's going to force me to marry him anyway." She shouted.

"Well I was just looking out for you!" I yelled back. I was totally losing my mind here, "I care alot about you, why can't you see that!

"Can't you see that I care about you too!", she retorted, "This is why it's tearing me apart to leave! You're my best friend, and I can't stand to leave you! I can't stand too leave any of you! But I promise to visit you guys! I just need to do this to help my parents okay. Why can't _you_ see that?"

I looked to the floor. "Well, they're pretty selfish if you ask me. They only came here so they could use you to live. And your pretty stupid for falling for it." I mumbled. Nia gasped. I could see the hurt look on her face. She stepped forward, looked me in the eye. She raised her hand as if she were about to slap me. I closed my eyes and flinched. I had expected her to slap me, but instead, I heard a soft cry. I opened my eyes and saw Nia on her knees crying in her hands.

"Just leave okay!" She yelled. I felt really bad for making her cry. I wanted more than anything to hold her, and to tell her that everything was going to be okay. I wanted to tell herhow much she meant to me. But instead i said, "I'm sorry." and left.

**Nia's POV**

I got up early this morning to say goodbye to my friends. They've been like my family for so long, It was gonna be so hard to leave them like this. Maybe Raimundo is right, I thought, maybe I am bailing out on them. What am I suppose to do? Stay here and let my parents die? No way! Can't he see how hard this is for me! I'M THE ONE GETTING MARRIED AGAINST MY WILL!

I looked at myself in the mirror. I don't see what Taban sees in me: my hair is thick and a little frizzy. I barely have any curves at all, what would he want with that? I remeber when we had a cook out during the summer, and I wore my first two peice swim suit. I thought it looked nice, but as soon as Raimundo saw it he called me a bean pole. I got really mad at him and dunked his head into the water. I laughed at the memory.

I reached in to my suit case and pulled out a picture. It was of me and Raimundo, I was on his back, he was giving me a piggy back ride. It was my only picture of him. That's why i charished it, because i cherished our friendship. And now it was all shattered because of this one thing. This one stupid thing! Why does Rai have to be such a big jerk?

**Later**

Well, this is it. I'm standing here at the temple gate in front of my friends. I had a gift for each one of them, even Rai.

"I'm really gonna miss you guys." I said in a shaky voice.

"This is a most depressing day. I feel so low in the rubbish." Said Omi. I walked up to him and put my arm around him.

"I think you mean "down in the dumps", Omi. And I know, but don't be sad. I'll write you guys often and I'll practice my martial arts everyday, so if any Shen Gong Wu go active, I'll be ready." I said giving him a thumbs up. "I think maybe this will help you with your slang problem ." I said handing him an Urban Dictionary.

"Oooooo, thank you very much!" Omi said. He bowed to me, and bowed back.

I walked over to Clay, I handed him a clay modle of a cow. "Here," I said handing it too him, "I thought you'd like it."

Clay smiled and tipped his hat. " You always were great with gifts, little lady. Taban is a lucky man." He said half joking. I laughed. I walked over to Kimiko, who had tears in her eyes. I pulled off one of my wrist bands and gave it too her.

"I know it's too big for you," I said, "but it's the most stylish thing I have." I joked.

"You know Nia, fashon was never your thing, but you were always a great friend." She said. I hugged her and walked over to Raimundo.

I looked at him but he kept his head down.

"Raimundo, I.."

"I know." He said bluntly. I looked at my hand. A few months ago Raimundo gave me a ring for my birthday. It was silver, with a purple gem on it. i loved it, but I knew I couldn't keep it, it would be disrespectful to Taban. I took it off my hand, and reached for his hand. I placed the ring on his palm and closed it. He looked at me with disbelif and hurt.

"I can't keep it, I'm getting a new one anyway." I said, "I'm sorry Raimundo." I looked away from him. I could feel him staring at me with that hurt look on his face. I walked to Master Fung, and bowed to him.

"Thank you Master Fung, for everthing." I said. He bowed to me, and Dojo was having a scene.

"NO! You can't go!" He cried winding around me. "You the only one who doesn't make fun of how small I am." He blew his nose on my shirt...eww.

"I'll miss you too DoJo." I said. I turned to Rai, he was still looking at the ring in his hand. Master fung must have noticed. Uh-oh, proverb time.

"Over a long distance, you learn about the strength of your horse; over a long period of time, you get to know what's in a person's heart, young monk." He said.

What the heck does that even mean?

"Goodbye everyone. I'll miss you." I said getting into my parents car. They all waved at me, all exept Raimundo, who stood there and looked at me. The wind blew his dark brow hair in his sad face. I waved goodbye them, let my sadness and anger drift away in the cool summer breeze as we drove off.

**Raimundo's POV**

She's gone. And she left the ring I gave her for her birthday. It wasn't just a ring. My mother gave me this ring and told me to give it to the girl I loved. So I gave it Nia, because...I loved her.

I loved her, and now she's gone...and never coming back.

I stuffed the ring in my pocket, and ran back to the temple, holding back my tears. I was so full of rage and sadness that I didn't notice bumped into Master Fung.

"Ah, Raimundo, please join us in the temple gardens." He said. And so, I reluctenly, walked too the gradens and sat down.

"I can't belive she's gone." Kimiko said, playing with Nia's wristband.

"I feel sadder than a pig with no mud on a hot summers day." Clay said. Jeez, what is with these people and these stupid sayings? Master Fung stepped into the center of our circle, begining to talk.

"To support Nia and her family in there time of need, I think that we should go to Nia's wedding."

"That's a great idea, Master Fung!" Exclaimed Kimiko. Great, not only is the girl love going to get married, but had to just sit there and watch it happen.

"You will all need to bring a wedding gift for Nia. And you will all have to wear either a suite, tuxedo, or a dress." said Master Fung.

"Oh, come one," I said annoyed, "she didn't even invite us herself!" I yelled. Besides, isn't rude to come uninvited to a wedding?

"On the contrary, Raimundo," Master Fung said pulling out four peices of paper, "Imani gave me these to give to all of you." He past them out. Mine read: Nia Aden and Taban Bongani invites Raimundo Pedrosa to attend their wedding on June 4th.

I crumpled the invite up and stuffed it in my pocket along twith the ring. I already knew what my gift was gonna be, even if she didn't want it, I had to be true to myself. I guess I must have looked pretty upset, because Master Fung stood by my side.

"Raimundo, if it makes you feel better, Nia wanted me to give you this." Master Fung said handing me a letter. It read "To Raimundo" in Nia's loose cursive handwritting. I decided to read it tonight, so I would have more privacy. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring. I remembered when I first gave Nia the ring for her birthday. She deoesn't know what the ring means. I told her that it was just a friendship ring so she would'nt be suspitcious.

She always wore, during Showdowns, kombat training, even when she slept. But i guess now that she's getting a wedding ring, my little trinket doesn't matter anymore. My gift to her was going to be the ring, but I'm gonna put it on a silver chain so she could wear it as a necklace.

At least she'll have a little part of me.

**Later(at night)**

I opened the envolope and took out the letter that night. It read:

_Dear Raimundo,_

_I'm sorry I didn't give this to you myself, but it was just to painful. I wanted you to know that no matter what happens, you will always be my best friend. I gave you back the ring because if I kept it, it would just make things more complicated. Everytime I look at the ring, I think of you, and how much you mean to me in my heart. I'm so sorry._

_I hope that you and the other Xiaolin Worriors can come to my wedding. You'll sit in the front row with Clay, and my parents (I asked Omi to be the ring bearer and Kimiko to be my bridesmaid.) Perhaps you could give a speech at the reception. I'll miss you..._

_Love,_

_Nia_

There were tears on the paper,she was crying when she wrote it. Great, now I feel like a big jerk again. And she erased something, it looked like it said "I love you".

She _loves _me? Like, accuall love? Or like best friend love? Probally the second choice. Still...

I did have hope.

**Nia's POV**

I wonder if Raimundo read the letter. I wonder if he saw what I earased. I wonder if he knows...

It's true, I love Raimundo. With all my heart, yet, I've been hiding it all these years because, I've been so afraid. Afraid that it would ruin our friendship. So I was gonna write it in the letter, but I earased it because...because ...

Because I'm being married to a man I don't even know. But he threatened to kill my parents, so I have to do this right? This is the right thing to do right?

Then why do I feel so wrong?


	3. Chapter 3

** Chapter 3**

**Nia's POV**

"Here Nia, you will need to put these on." My mom said. She handed me a red hijab and a blue direh (a long dress like clothing). Even though I was Muslim, I never accually wore these befor. But I guess I'll be wearing these more often, since I'll be living here in Somalia.

"Can you help me put on the hijab, Mama?" I asked, after i had put on the direh. She nodded yes and showed me the proper way to wear it. She showed me a mirror and gasped.

"You are so beautiful, Nia." my mother said with a smile on her face. I saw how much we looked like each other, like how a strand of our auburn hair always hangs out of our hijabs. I was like a youthful version of my mom.

I wonder if Raimundo ever thought I was beautiful.

My family and I were at the Bangoni's house waiting for them. They lived in a mansion, nicer than most of the houses I've seen since we came here. We sat on the sofa, admiring the the stunning decor of the place. I already missed the Xiaolin temple, it wasn't facny, but it was home.

"Baba," I asked, " what does Taban look like?"

Baba, with a stern face said "He is tall, well built, and handsom. He has long charcoal dread locks and mysterious golden eyes. He may look nice, but on the inside, he is very ugly."

That only upset me even more. I was trying my absoulute best to try to make the best of things but this was just turning worse and worse.

Then, three people entered the room, one was a boy about my age, who fit Baba's description. An older man, wearing a blue turban had a cold look on his face. The woman, who glared at my parents, wore a stern, angry face as she walked in.

I sarted getting nervous and worried. What if I said something to offend them? Uhgggg...

"My my, Nia, you are beautiful indeed." Taban said. He took my hand kissed it. My father sighed in dissaproval.

Oh, great, _another_ charmer...

"Thank you." I said quietly. Taban sat down on the sofa across from the one we sat on. spoke first.

"Nia, we hear that you are training to be the Xiaolin dragon of Lightning. Do you plan to continue this after you and Taban get married?" He asked.

"Of course, it's my duty to the world. Why?" I said. frowned.

"Your _duty _is to take of this house, your husband, and your children. As soon as you are married you will not continue this Xiaolin bussiness." He retorted.

Oh no he didn't!

"Who do think you are!" I shouted.I spung from my seat but my mother grabbed my hand and sat me back down.

"Please, choose your words carefully. It is disrespectful to yell at a man." She wispered. It's disrepectful to tell people what they can and can't do like that, but no one is telling him that! Mrs. Bangoni spoke next.

"How do you think you will carry a child with a body like that?", she stated, "You are too skinny, you have no hips or breast. How do you suppose you will take care of it?"

"I, um, I don't want to have kids right now. I'm only fourteen." I said nervously. Mrs. Bangoni glared at me with her cold eyes.

"You have no say in the matter." She spat. Oh, great, now im having kids too. This so wasn't in the plan. How am I suppose to explain that when my friends see me with a big bulging belly?

"I honestly don't know what you see in this girl, son." said said.

"Oh father, I see great potential in her. Besides, she will soon grow curvier and then we shall hundreds of children!" Taban exlaimed.

That is it! "I am NOT having kids! Not now, not ever, not until I'm ready for some! What part of that don't you understand? And for your imformation, I do have a say in the matter!" I yelled.

There was silnece, I looked around the room and saw my parent's shocked faces, and the angry faces on the Bangonis's. Taban sprang from his seat, and lunged at me. I saw him raise his hand up. I flinched and closed my eyes. I screamed when I felt a strong force hit the side of my face. I fell, holding that side of my face, tears steaming down my cheek.

"You will do as I say." He grunted. I heard my mother pleading for him to stop. I wipped up my tears an put on a brave face. It would only make him feel better if I had cried. My face was already starting to swell, I could feel it. But despite my pain, I got up, looked him in the eye.

"You don't own me." I said sternly. He laughed in my face.

"I think we are finished here." He said to my parents. We were escoted by the maid out the house. The maid, who was an old woman, gave me a bag of ice.

"_Asante_." I said (that means "Thank you" in Swahilli). Baba held me in his arms, telling me how sorry he is about what happened.

"I should have beat him right then and there." He said. I took his hand in mine.

"Baba, look at me, they would have had you killed if you did. I can take this, I'm the Drangon of Lightning. If he hits me when we are married, I'll use these." I said, pulling out the Fans of Arc out of my sleeves. He chuckled.

**Later**

I looked in the mirror. My face wasn't swollen anymore, thanks to the ice pack. But now it was a dark shade of blue and black on my cheek. I touched it, but hurt like crazy. I'll be honest, I lied when I said I could take it. Taban can hit really hard.

Raimundo would've never hit me. Ever. Not in a million years. I swear, if he were there when it happened, her would have litterally knocked the wind out of Taban. I laughed at the thought.

Just then, my phone rang. I picked it up, It was Kimiko!

"Hello?" I said.

"Mushi-mushi, Nia. Guess what?" She asked.

"What? Omi got a slang right?" I asked. That is something i would like to see.

"Look out your window." She said simply. I opened the window and saw 6 people waving at me.

Oh. My. God!

Kimiko, Omi, Clay, Master Fung, Dojo and Raimundo were outside my house!

I quickly put on my hijab and ran outside.

**Raimundo's POV**

When I saw Nia come outside my heart jumped for joy. She was wearing one of those head scarfs that Muslim girls wear. It looked nice on her. She ran to me and hugged me, while the others grouped hugged us both. I must have hugged her too hard because she yelped in pain.

"Nia," I asked, "whats wrong?". She stopped hugging me and moved a peice of the hijab covering her cheek. I gasped when I saw the large bruise.

"Nia, what happened?" Kimiko asked.

"I, uh, fell." she said. She looked at me. Her silvery grey eyes shone in the moonlight. I knew she didn't fall, I could see the handprint on her cheek. Taban must have hit her. I was so mad but i didn't show it. I didn't want her to worry.

"You guys should come in, you must be tired." Nia said leading us into the house.

**Later**

Mr and Mrs. Aden agreed to let us stay here. They had two rooms that would be used as geust rooms. I got ready to go too bed, but I decided to go hang out in Nia's room. I opened the door and walk inside.

"Raimundo!" She screamed, "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" she grabbed her hijab and started wrapping it around her head.

"Sorry. Do you really have to put on that hijab thingy all the time?" I asked. She nodded.

"I'm not suppose to take it off in front of a man that's not my father or...husband." She said.

"Oh...speaking of husband, what really happened to your face?" I asked. She immedietly hid it with the hijab.

"Nia, i know he hit you, I can see the hand print on the bruise." I said. She looked to the floor, ashamed.

"He slapped me." She said. "Please don't tell anybody, if the others find out..."

"I knew this was gonna happen!" I seethed. "As soon as I meet him I'll knock him out!". Nia grabbed my shoulders.

"No!" she yelled, "If you hurt him, the Bangoni's will hurt you! If they did that I don't think I could stand that!" She was crying by now. "If you ever got hurt, I wouldn' be able to handle it! Do you hear me?"

Nia collasped in my arms and sobbed. I held her, letting her cry out all the pain. We were on the floor, in the dark. I wispered things in her ear to calm her down.

"Shh, it's okay," I wispered, "It's all gonna be okay. I'm so sorry."

I picked her up bridal style and layed her on her bed. I was about to leave, but I felt her pull my arm.

"Stay with me, please. Just for tonight." she pleaded. I climbed in the bed, and wrapped my arms around her.

"Goodnight." I said. She sighed.

"Goodnight, I love you." She yawned. I looked at her, her beautiful face glowed in the moonlight. I couldn't belive it. She said it. She said she loved me! But she was tired, she probly didn't know what she was saying. But it still lifted my heart to hear her say it.

I kissed her forehead and went to sleep. For the first time in a few days, I felt...at peace.


	4. Chapter 4

** Chapter 4**

** Nia's POV**

The next morning I woke up to an empty bed. Raimundo must've left in the middle of the night. I remember that night vividly. Raimundo held me in his warm embrace, and I finally told him I loved him. He kissed me on my forhead, and we fell asleep together. My heart still feels like it's flying! It may have only been a kiss on the forhead but it felt just as sweet!

I got up to go take a shower, and get dressed. After the shower, I put on my blue direh, then my Mama came into the room.

"Good morning honey." She said. I smiled and hugged her.

"Good morning, will you brush my hair, Mama?" i asked. She smiled warmly and nodded. I sat down on a stool infront of my mirror. Mama started brushing my long flowing hair.

"You know, Nia, I saw you and Raimundo last night." She said. I could feel myself blushing with embarassment.

"You...did?" I asked nervously. She chuckled.

"Yea, you really should close your door." she joked. "I'm not mad, I thought it was nice of him."

"Yea, he's a really good guy you know." I said in admiration. After a few minutes of silence, she spoke agian in a quiet voice.

"I see the way he looks at you. Evertime he sees you his eyes glow with joy and happiness." She said. "That's the same way your Baba looked at me when we were young."

"Really?" I asked. Where was she going with this?

"Yes." a few minutes of silent went by, "You love Raimundo don't you?" She asked. I was surprised she asked that. But hey, she was right.

"Yes Mama, I do. I love him so much, and it's tearing me apart to have to marry a brutal tyrant like Taban." I said in a shaky voice. I was on the verge of tears, but I did my best to hold them back. My mother lifted my chin and looked me in the eyes.

"Nia, listen to me," she said, "what you feel for Raimundo and what he feels for you, that's love." She pointed to the bruise on my face. "This is not." She hugged me and kissed my forhead, around the same spot Rai kissed. "Now, come downstairs for breakfast."

I put on my hijab and ran down the stairs.

**Raimundo's POV**

We were all sitting at the table eating breakfast. made a Somali pancake-like dish, a canjeero, and tea for us. I have to admit, they tasted pretty good. Omi must have loved them, cause he was practiclly inhaling them.

"Yo, slow down cheeseball! Leave enough for Nia when she gets down." I said. Omi glared.

"Raimundo, why are you always up in my barbeque!" He retorted.

"What?" I asked confused.

"I think you mean "up in my grill," little feller." Clay said. Everybody laughed. A few minutes later, Nia came down the stairs with her mom.

"Good morning everbody!" She greeted. She sat down across from me. I wave and smiled at her, and she smiled back. I remebered what happedned last night. After I was sure she was asleep, I wispered in her ear.

"I love you, Nia. With all my heart." Then I slowly got out of the bed, and touched her hair, and left the room. I went back to my room and layed on the bed, dreaming about Nia. And wishing she were mine.

"It is a really beautiful day outside." said .

"Yes, it is, and a very hot day too." said while fanning herself. "Nia, after breakfast, how about you and Raimundo go to the market and get some ice cream for later." She said, winking at Nia.

"Yea, sure. I done. Ready to go Rai?" She asked me.

"Yep, lets go." I said, happy to have some alone time with Nia.

**Nia's POV**

Raimundo and I were heading for the market to go get ice cream for later. On the way, he and I were looking at the diffrent things people were doing. Some people were dancing, some were singing, and some were palying beautiful music. I was so much fun walking with him!

"Oh Rai, look at that adroable baby over there!" I said showing him a baby in a stroller.

"The baby over there?" he asked pointing to it. The baby's mother glared at him.

"Don't point! That's not polite here." I said. He stopped right away.

"Sorry ma'am!" He called. She smiled, and said it was okay. She must have figured out that he's not from around here anyway.

"Dude, you won't belive what said to me yesterday." I said.

"What?" He asked.

"She asked me 'How are you going to have children with a body like that?'" I said. Raimundo looked at me with a confused face.

"A body like what?" He asked.

"You know, a body with no curves. I'm skinny, uncurvy, a _bean pole_ ." I said, emphathising bean pole.

"So. What's wrong with your body?" he asked.

"Remember when I wore that bathing suit and you called me a bean pole?"

"Oh, that. I was just joking." he said. I could see him blushing with embarassment.

"It's okay, I'm not mad about it." I assured him. He seemed relived about it. After a few minutes of silence, Raimundo started talking again.

"You're really pretty you know." He said. I turned away so he would'nt see me blush.

"Thanks." I said quietly.

"If you were'nt going to marry Taban, what kind of guy wuld you want to marry." He asked. Yes! A chance to tell him I like him!

"Well, He has to be kind, sweet, smart, even if he doesn't show it. " I sarted, "Maybe a little tall, handsome, green eyes, brown hair. And who knows, maybe even from Brazil. Rio de Janerio to be exact."

Raimundo stoped in his tracks. "You mean..." He trailed off. He steped closer to me, closing the space between us. In an instant our lips touched. It felt like fireworks going off. His lips were so warm. His strong arms wrapped around my so called waist and pulled me closer to him. I totally forgot about the ice cream, about the wedding, and Taban. All I thought about at that moment was Raimundo.

**Raimundo's POV**

Nia and I pulled away from our kiss to see a guy with dres locks standing near us. He look at us with a furious glare.

"T-Taban?" Nia said confused. He looked at her and then at me. Nia was shaking with fear, holding on to my arm.

"How dare you." He said to me. He pushed me on to the ground and grabbed Nia by the arm.

"AHHHH!" She screamed. He tightned his grip on her arm. "Please, let me go, you're hurting me!"

"I warned you, you will do as I say, or I will hurt you." He grunted. I got up and kicked him in his stomach. He groanded and fell to the ground. I ran to Nia and helped her.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I asked looking at her arm. There was a bruise forming already.

"Raimundo look out!" She yelled. I turned around and saw Taban throwing himslef on me. He pinned me to the ground.

"How dare you kiss my bride?" He seethed.

"Because, I love her more than you ever will in your life!" I retorted. He punched my face. I groaned in pain and let my head fall to the ground.

"When I' m finished with her, I'll come for you to teach you a much deserved lesson." He said getting off of me and walking over to Nia, who was cowering in fear. My head was in so much pain,I could barley get up ,but I knew I had to do something.

**Nia's POV**

"W-what are you gonna do to me?" I asked Taban. He slapped he in the same place he slapped me befor. Right on the bruise. I screamed in complete agony.

"I hate you!" I yelled, Taban grabbed my shoulders and glared in my eyes. I saw nothing but hate in his eyes, and anger. I prayed that somebody would help us, but no one was out side on this street. Please Raimundo get up, please, I thought. I kept banging on Taban's chest, begging him to let me go. But started shaking me.

"Do you want me to kill you?" He asked. "Huh, do you? Because I'll do it gladly. And I'll kill your little friend too." He clechned his hand in a fist, about to hit me when...

"STOP!" yelled Raimundo. He finally regained concsinous. He stumbled towards a wall to hold him up. "Don't hurt her, it wasn't her fault. I kissed her, so take it out on me. Just please let her go." He said. Taban threw me to the ground, and walked over to Raimundo.

"Raimundo, please don't do this to yourself!" I begged. "Please." Raimundo looked at me and smiled, his eye was swollen shut and throbing.

"It'll be okay, I promise." He assured. "I love you." he said, and Taban kicked him in his back and Raimundo fell to the ground. I rushed by his side.

"Raimundo!" I screamed. He groaned in pain. "I love you Raimundo." I said, and I kissed his cheek. Taban, furious by now, pushed me out of the way and grabbed Raimundo. A black car pulled up along the street. Taban opened the car door and stuffed Raimundo into the seat. He climbed in himself, and the car drove off.

I sat there on the street coner, and cried.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

** Raimundo's POV**

"Where are you taking me?" I asked. We've been driving for hours, without stopping. He was probly trying to make sure I couldn't find my way also explains the blindfold and my arms being tapped together. My head was throbbing with pain, and I could barley sit up because of the agonizing in my lower back.

"To an alley, so that I can teach you a much dezerved lesson for what you did." Taban said. The driver jolted to a stop and I fell forward. I felt myslef being pushed out of the car and on a hard gravel ground. I groaned when I felt a fist collide with my stomach.

"I should kill you right now." Taban wispered. "You dare kiss my bride-to-be?" I rolled over on my back.

"She doesn't love you." I groaned. I felt Taban's foot kick my side, an I moaned in pain. He kicked me there about four times and laughed darkly.

"And what makes you think she loves you?" He asked.

"B-because, I care about her...I comfort her when you use her as a punching bag...and...I love..." I said, trailing off. The pain was so unbearable and I was blacking out. I felt Taban hit me one last time in the head, and I was knock out. The last thing I heard was a car pulling out of the dark alley.

**Nia's POV**

I was so mad that I was about to do something incredibly stupid. I walked all the way to Taban's house alone at nightime. My leg was in excruchiating pain from that morning, so it was more of a limp, than a walk. When I finally managed to make it to his house, I banged on his door.

"OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!" I yelled. I banged harder and harder until somebody opened the door. It was the maid.

"_Mimi unahitaji kuzungumza na Taban_(I need to speak with Taban.)" I told her. She led me inside the grand house into the living room. I waited for Taban. When he finally came into the living room, I started yelling.

"Where is he?" I asked sternly. He smiled a wiked smile.

"Where is who, my darling?" He asked, pretending not to know what I was talking about.

"Do not play games with me! You know who I'm talking about, where is Raimundo?" I shouted. He stepped closer to me.

"Raimundo and I took a little trip." He said calmly. I was so furious at him. I looked him straight in the eyes.

"If you hurt him at all, I promise you will regret it." I said angrily. He laughed in my face.

"Go check the alley by the pawn shop. You should find him there...maybe." He said. I walked swiftly towards the door, and he walked after me. "Where do you think you are going?" He asked, grabbing me. He warpped his arms my waist. I struggled to get free but he was to strong, and his arms and chest were crushing my tiny frame. I yelped in agony.

"I gonna go find him, and can't stop me!" I retorted. I slamed my leg in his groin, setting me free as he fell to the gorund, I and ran down the street, getting as far away from his house as possible. I don't know what I'm thinking. Women weren't suppose to be out without a male escort, and the only people out at this time of night were robbers, gangs, and rapist. I called Kimiko.

"Hello? Nia? Nia! Where have you been? We're worried sick about you!" Kimiko yelled into the phone.

"He took him." I said.

"Who took who?" Kimiko asked confused.

"Taban. He took Raimundo. He jumped us on our way to the market, I didn't come home because I was out looking for him. He's in an alley and I'm going to go find him and bring him home. "

"Hold on we'll come help." Kimiko said eagerly.

"No, I need you guys to saty home and protect my parents. I'll be fine." I said, I hung up the phone and started walking to the pawn shop.

"Raimundo!" I called. No answer. "Raimundo where are you?" I called. I heard a soft groan comming from the alley. "Oh God no." I said softly. I ran to the alley to see a lifeless body on the hard gravle.

"Raimundo!" I screamed. I ran to his side, he was bleeding form his head. "Oh God, i'm so sorry!" I screamed. I ripped off a small peice of cloth from my direh and wrapped it around the wound on his head. He was strating to regain concisnous.

"N-Nia?" He said. He tried to sit up, but winced from the pain. I laid him back down.

"Raimundo can you hear me?" I asked him. My hands were shaking in fear.

"Yea, I'll be fine. You shouldn't be out here." He groaned. I touched his cheek.

" I couldn't leave you out here like this. I love you so much." I cried. I felt his hand touch mine.

"I love you too, Nia." He rasped. I leaned down and kissed him. When we pulled apart, I tried to help him up.

"I need to get you home." I said. I hoisted him up and put one of arms around him while I held him up with one hand on his chest. He groaned.

"We can't walk home." He said. "It'll take us forever."

"Luckly for you, I know a short cut." I said. We headed for an abandoned street behind the alley.

"Thank you." he said. I looked at him, confused.

"For what?" I asked. He reached for my hand and looked into my eyes.

"For doing this. Look, I know that it's dangerous out here, and I'm sorry for making you go through this, and-" He said, but I cut him off with a sweet kiss.

"You talk to much." I said. He chuckled lightly and we continued walking down the street.

**Raimundo's POV**

I looked at Nia, who was limping. At first I thought it was because she was holding me up, but I saw a large bruise on it.

"Nia, does your leg hurt?" I asked. She looked up at me.

" Yeah, but it's nothing. Really." She said. I looked at her body to see if Tabn left any other injuries. The bruise on her face was darker, and larger. She had lots of bruises on her arms and shoulders. Other than that, no cuts or broken bones like me, but she was still in alot of pain.

"Lets rest right here for a sec." She said, walking me to a bench. We sat down and she moaned in pain.

"Are you okay?" I asked. She was clenching her sides.

"No, Taban practicly crushed my waist and stomach area." She said simply. I clenched my fist, angry as ever. It was one thing to beat me up, but he drew the line when you up my Nia.

"I'll carry you." I said. She looked at me with concern.

"You're hurt worse than me, you can't. I don't want to hurt you anymore. It's my fault we're in this mess anyway." I could see she was about to break down and cry. I scooted closer to her and wrapped my arms around her small body.

I didn't notice until now how fragile Nia is, like a porceline doll. She's always acted like the tough, smart girl in our group, so it made up for her small stature. I was at least 5 inches taller than her, and weighed alot more than her, so I made sure that I didn't crush. Especially since she was so weak now.

"Your bleeding." She said, pointing to my head. The cloth bandeging my wound was covered in blood. She ripped another peice of cloth from her clothes, and wrapped up my wound. She was inches away from my face. I looked into her mezmarizing silver eyes, and leaned in and kissed her soft lips. She caressed my cheek in her small hand, stroking it with her soft fingers. I put my hands on her waist, but gently so it wouldn't hurt her.

We pulled apart to regain our breath. Nia's skin was glowing in the moonlight, showing her true beauty.

"Will we ever be together?" I asked her. She sighed.

"I don't know. With Taban in the picture..."

"I don't care about Taban," I said, "I only care about you." I kissed her again, but only for a short while, because we saw Dojo flying in the sky. He touched the ground and transformed to his smaller self.

"There you guys are!" He said with relife.

"Dojo! Thank God you're here!" Nia said hugging him.

" The others sent me to come find you. So hop on!" He said, transfoming into his dragon form. Nia got up but winced in pain, about to fall backwards, but I caught her.

"I got ya." I said. She smiled, and we help each other on to Dojo's back. He sored into the night sky. Nia leaned against me, falling asleep in the cool night. I held her, and stroked her soft hair. She sighed, and leaned into my touch as we flew in the night sky.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Nia's POV**

We finally made back to home at about 2 am. Raimundo and I, holding each other up up, gently and slowly got of off Dojo. The front doors of my house opened, and out came Mama and Baba, with greif striken faces. They hugged both me and Raimundo.

"OW!" we both yelped, still in pain from the past nights events. Mama held me gently in her arms.

"Don't you ever scare us like that again!" She yelled, half mad, half crying. Now that I think about it, I should've called earler that day to tell them what happened, then at least they would know where i was and what happened to Raimundo.

"I'm sorry, Mama." It was all I could say. Everything that happned was all my fault anyway. Mama and Baba helped Raimundo and me into the house and our bedrooms. Mama and Baba didn't know first aid, so I had to do it, but I showed them how to bandage me up. After they were done with me, I went over to Raimundo's room to patch him up.

"Hey, how you feelin?" I asked, walikng in to his room. He was laying on his bed.

"Better, but still in pain." He said quietly. I walked over to his side, observing the wound on his head. I took off the cloth coving it. It was still bloody, but it wasn't as big since some of it had scabbed up. I got a wash cloth and gently washed the wound. I dabbed a little iodine on the cloth and dabbed his head with it.

"That stings." He moaned.

"I know, but it helps it not get infected." I said. After I finished wahsing the wound, i looked into the first aid bag and got the bandages. I wrapped them around his head to cover the wound.

"There we go, no all I have to do is bandage chest, arm and leg." I said. I blushed a little, and Ramundo must have notice it.

"What?" He asked.

"You, uh..have to take off your shirt." I mumbled. He blushed, and tried to remove his shirt, but was in to much pain to do so.

"Uh, will you help me?" He asked, a little embarrased. I nooded and grabbed the bottom of his shirt and slowly and carefully pulled it over his head. I truned bright red seeing his six pack abs, and grimiched at the site of the big black bruise covering his lower abdomon. I got the bandgedes and got to work.

**Raimundo's POV**

Nia was working on my stomach, making sure she wasn't too rough. The feel of her delicate, soft hands on my skin left a tingling sensation. I blushed because of the contact.

"Raimundo," she said quietly, "'I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault." I said, reaching for her hand. I held her hand in mine, noting how much bigger my hand was than hers.

"Yes it is Raimundo, it was _me_ you kissed. It's _me_ Taban wants to marry. It's _me_ Taban beat you up for. Which is why I have to marry Taban, and it's why we can't be together." She said. It felt like my heart dropped and broke into peices. I could see the same feeling in her eyes, glassy with tears.

"Just don't marry him." I said. I knew this was going to upset her, but I had to say it.

"What about my parents?" She asked, while bangeding my arm.

"They'll live with us in the temple." I said, lifting my arm so she could get better acsess.

"But what about you? He knows I love you, and will anything he can to get rid of you."

"Hey," I said sitting up, "I can take care of myslef." I retorted. She got up from the bed, got a mirror from her dresser and put it in front of my face.

"Is_ this _waht you call taking care of yourself?" She asked. I lowered my head, knowing she was right in a way.

"I was tied up!" I said trying to deffend myslef.

"And what makes you think he won't tie you up again?" She asked, bandeging my leg. "I have to do it to protect the ones I love. That's why I'm the Xiaolin Dragon of Lightning, i have to protect people inspite of myself. Even if that means being beaten, raped, and getting pregnant at 14. I'll do anything to protect you, my parents, Kimiko, Clay, Omi, Master Fung and even Dojo. Because you guys are my family too."

"But I'm a man." I said. Nia looked me in the eye.

"Your 14."

"That's besides the point. In Brazil, in tough situations it's the man that has to protect the women, not the other way around." I said. Nia crawled on the bed, inches away from my face.

"This is the 21st century Rai. And I don't see you trying to marry Taban." She joked.

Speak of the devil.

"Nia, It's Taban. He's here." Called . I clencehed my fist, wanting to hurt him. Nia layed me down on the bed gently. She kissed my cheek.

"I'll be right back." She said, and she left the room.

**Nia's POV**

I walked down the stairs to see Taban sitting at my kitchen table. I swallowed my anger and sat down across from him. I looked around to see if I my parents were around.

"They aren't here, I told them to go to their rooms." He said, knowing what I was thinking.

"What do you want from me?" I asked. He got up from his seat, and came behind my chair.

"I want to discuss some things about the wedding, which is in two days by the way." He said, his dark voice ringing in my ears.

"When did we agree on a date?" I asked. "I don't even have a dress." Taban pulled out a white gown, sleevless, and just my size.

"That's not gonna work." I said pointing to the dress. Taban frowned.

"Why not? I had it tailored just for you."

"I mean, it's my size, but It won't fit right cause I don't have any hips or boobs." I said dryly. Taban put the dress down. He touched my shoulders, rubbing them slowly.

"That does not matter to me." he wispered in my ear. I felt really uncomfortable.

"Stop touching me." I said, but he didn't stop, he took off my hijab, moved some of my hair, and kissed up and down the back of my neck.

"I said STOP!" I yelled and pushed him off of me. I pulled out the Fans of Arc, but Taban tackled me to the ground the fans fell out of my hand. He picked me up and pinned me to a wall.

"Let me go!" I yelled. Everybody ran down stairs, Clay helping Raimundo.

"Get off of her!" Raimundo yelled. He pulled out the Blade of the Nebula, Omi got the Shimo Staff, Kimiko got the Arrow Sparrow, and clay got the Big Bang Meteror-ang.

"No, d-don't!" I yelled. "Stand back!" I cautioned.

"No, we must fight now!" Omi yelled.

"Just do it! It's for your own good guys." I said. They all got as far back as they could.

"What are you going to do?" Taban teased, tightening his grip.

"You'll see." I said. "Wudai Jupiter Lightning!" I shouted, turning into my Orinon form, glowing bright yellow. Lightning flowed from my body to Taban's, electricuting him. He screamed in agony, not letting go of me (which would've been the smart thing to do). Taban fell to the ground as I turned back to my normal form. He wasn't dead, but his body was in shock from the lightning.

"Can you hear me?" I asked him. He lifted his head.

"W-what did you do to me." he asked.

"My wudai powers. As the Dragon of Lightning, I can electricute my enimes and put their bodies in temporary shock." I explained.

"Please, just let me go. I promise I won't hurt you anymore." he pleaded. I helped him up and kicked him out of the house. Hoping to never see him again. When I came back inside the others, with big smiles on their faces, group hugged me.

"Way to go girl!" Said Kimiko.

"That was a most impressive attack." Omi said.

"Ooo-weee, I ain't never seen you pull off an attack that powerful." Clay said.

"That was the coolest thing I ever saw!" Exlaimed Raimundo. "we finally got rid of him for sure!" He hugged me.

"I have to go tell Mama and Baba!" I said running up the stairs into my parents bedroom.

"Mama, Baba, I..." I trailed off. They weren't in their room. The other worriors followed behind me. The window was opened and a note was left behind. I picked it up and read it outloud.

_Dearest Nia,_

_What you did back their was absoulutly unexeptable. As aresult I have kidnapped your mother and father. if you want them back, then you will marry me in two days. The other Xiaolin worriors are not to attened. If they do, your parents will be destroyed._

_Taban_

I fell to my knees, tears flowing from my eyes. Raimundo limped over to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry, we'll figure something out. We'll find them." He said.

"Yea," I said quietly, "But what if we're already too late?"


End file.
